“I’m not guilty. They condemned an innocent man,” general Branimir
Glavas said in 2010 after receiving news that the Croatian Supreme Court
had sentenced him to eight years in prison for war crimes.
“If the judges of the Supreme Court have unequivocally found that I
am guilty of brutal crimes against the civilian population at the time
of the Homeland War [Croatia’s 1990s war], then the court should impose
the maximum prescribed prison sentence [20 years] on me,” Glavas
declared.
As the commander of the defence forces in the eastern Croatian city
of Osijek, Glavas was found guilty of ordering the executions of seven,
mostly Croatian Serb civilians in 1991. The court established that he
founded and armed a special military unit known in Osijek under various
names – the Protective Troop or Branimir’s Osijek Battalion – and acted
as its effective commander.

Glavas’s legal marathon: timeline
July 2005: The state attorney’s office, DORH, confirms it has testimonies on the killing of Serbs in Osijek in 1991 and 1992
December 2005: Glavas interrogated in Osijek
June 2006: The state attorney’s office opens an investigation into Glavas
October 2006: Glavas arrested over the ‘Garage’ case and put in
remand prison; DORH opens an investigation for the ‘Sellotape’ case
December 2006: Glavas released from remand, after a 37-days-long hunger strike from prison, and the investigation was stopped.
April 2007: DORH files an indictment for the ‘Sellotape’ case, Glavas
again transferred to remand prison, where he starts a 24-day hunger
strike
May 2007: DORH files an indictment for the ‘Garage’ case
October 2007: Glavas’s trial starts before Zagreb county court
November 2007: Glavas starts a 65-day hunger strike
January 2008: After parliament did not strip him of his immunity, Glavas is allowed to defend himself on bail
May 2009: Zagreb county court sentences Glavas to ten years in prison; the same day Glavas flees to Bosnia and Herzegovina
July 2010: Croatia’s Supreme Court upholds the 2009 conviction, lowering the sentence to eight years
December 2010: the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirms the
verdict; Glavas is transferred to prison in Zenica and later Mostar
January 2015: Croatia’s Constitutional Court quashes Glavas’s final verdict
July 2016: Croatia’s Supreme Court quashes Glavas’s first-degree verdict
October 2017: Glavas’s trial starts again before Zagreb county court

His trial encompassed two cases, codenamed ‘Garage’ and ‘Sellotape’.
In the ‘Garage’ case, civilian Cedomir Vuckovic was forced to drink
car battery acid in a garage in September 1991. When he ran out in pain,
he was shot by Krunoslav Fehir, member of the 1st Battalion of Osijek
Defenders, commanded by Glavas.
Vuckovic died from the consequences of the poisoning. Glavas then
allegedly came from his nearby office and ordered that a second
prisoner, Dordje Petkovic, should be executed.
In the ‘Sellotape’ case, Glavas’s unit arrested six civilians in
November and December 1991 – Branko Lovric, Alija Sabanovic, Milutin
Kutlic, Svetislav Vukajlovic, Bogdan Pocuca and an unidentified woman in
Osijek – then tortured them in a basement in the city. They were then
brought to the Drava riverbank, where the unit members executed them,
with their hands tied behind their backs with sellotape.
One civilian, Radoslav Ratkovic, was shot in the cheek and threw into
the river, but managed to survive and swam away. Through his direct
subordinate Gordana Getos Magdic, Glavas ordered that someone from the
unit go to the hospital and execute Ratkovic – although the order was
not carried out.
Despite all the facts about the crimes established by Zagreb county
court at the first trial in 2009 and the confirmed by the Supreme Court
in 2010, Glavas is a still a free man and is currently standing over the
two cases before Zagreb county court again, 26 years after the crimes.
Some commentators have suggested that his political influence, which
was bolstered by the party he co-founded, the Croatian Democratic Union,
HDZ - an influence which he still retains as an MP in Croatia’s
parliament - is one reason why there has been no final verdict yet.
When the retrial started in October in Zagreb, Glavas again pleaded not guilty. He is appearing in court again on Friday.High-ranking politician, ‘ruler’ of Osijek

Glavas in the Croatian parliament. Photo: Beta.

Glavas, now 61, is no longer occupying major positions of power, but
he has been a serious political force, particularly in his birthplace,
Osijek. He was one of the founders of the centre-right HDZ and an
associate of the party’s leader and Croatian President Franjo Tudjman.
He also took control over the Osijek-based daily newspaper Glas Slavonije, as Drago Hedl, a veteran journalist from Osijek who was its editor-in-chief and has written extensively about Glavas, recalls.......http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/the-never-ending-war-crimes-trial-of-branimir-glavas-12-07-2017